Door actuating mechanism



Fiyi' Feb.25`, 1947. G. w. SLOPA 2,416,459r

DOOR lACTUATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 5, 1945 Egf IN VEN TOR.

35 3y v T23 v y Arran/2 Patented Feb. 25, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT oEricE DGOR ACTUATIN G MECHANISM George W. Slopa, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 5, 1945, Serial No. 576,257

The invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanism, and more particularly to novel means actuable to open and close a supplemental door upon opening or closing a main door in a multiple door system.

The door operating mechanism of the present invention is particularly rconcerned with such in stallations as are provided in large storage compartments, such as refrigerators, wherein a main door and a supplemental door are associated in such a manner as to require automatic opening and closing of the supplemental door upon opening and closing of the main door. Such a mechanism is indicated when a conveyor track is extended into the storage compartment from the outside so as to facilitate movement of large articles, suspended from hangers movable along said track, from the outside to the inside of the 2 Claims. (Cl. 268-14)- storage compartment. In such installations the track extends through the supplemental or track opening located above the main door opening and the articles hang from the hangers on said track so as topass through the main door opening freely when the hangers are moved throughthe supplemental door opening. When no articles are being moved into or out of ythe compartment, the main and supplemental door openings are closed tightly. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a door control sys# tem of the kind referredto with novelly constructed means of a kind that is easy to install to move the supplemental door into a full open position upon initial opening of the main door and to move the supplemental door into a closed position when the main door is fully closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the .kind referred to with a novelly constructed cam element carried on the main door and eiective to positivelyA actuate mechanism associated with the supplemental door easily and quickly upon initial movement of the main door into an open` or a closed position.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which, by way-of illustration, shows preferred embodiments of the principle thereof which are considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention and the pur View of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the upper portion of a multiple door system embodying features of the present invention.

' Fig. 2 is an inside elevational view of the supplemental door illustrated in Figure 1, and showing the track in section.

Fig. 3 'is a sectional detailview taken on line 33 of Figure 2. Y

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective View of a modilied form of standard. l

In the accompanying drawing the refrigerato compartment to which the multiple door system is shown applied includes a fro-nt wall l l having a main door opening l2 and a supplemental or port opening i3 located above and communicating directly with the main door opening l2. The supplemental door opening I3 is provided to accommodate a conveyor track Illwhich is extended through said opening into the compartment from the outside. Various devices are provided for use in the association with the track i4 whereby articles, such as sides or quarters of cattle, hams and the like, may be moved into and out of the compartment, and in the present disclosure such means consists of a suitableA carrier i5 including a roller i6 to travel along -the track .l il.. The carrier depends below said track and may have, on its lower end, a gambrel-hook so as to afford means for suspending an article therefrom- It is desired that the main door opening I2 and the supplemental door opening i3 be closed at all times when articles are not being moved into or out of the compartment, Accordingly, the maindoor opening l2 is provided with a main door il', which may be of any conventional construction and which is hingedly mounted' along one of its Vvertical edges to the frame of the main door opening so that it may swing through an arc into open .and closed positions. The door Il preferably is provided with a sealing strip I8, oi-rubber or other like material, so that the opening l2 is securely sealed when `the door is'closed tightly.

' The port cr supplemental door opening I3 similarly is provided with a door i9 pivotally mounted, as at 2l, for swinging movement vertically form the closed position illustrated in Figure l in full lines into the fully open position illustrated vin said ligure in broken lines. This manner of mounting the supplemental door 1,9

V11s-required so that when said door is, in a fully open position it is located above the. tracky lll to insure a clear Lminterruptedpassage for the carriers I5 when they are moved along the track I4 through the supplemental door opening I3.

The supplemental door I9 is provided on its lower edge with a slot 2250 that it may t over and around the track I4 while in closed position, and its lower edge and the edges of the slot 22 preferably are provided with a exible flap 23 of sufficient width to substantially contact the top edge of the main door I'I when both doors are fully closed. The inside face of the supplemental door I9 also may be provided with a sealing strip 24 to abut against the outside face of the .com-

partment wall Il adjacent the opening I3. Thus it will be observed that when the main door I'I and supplemental door I9 are in fully closed positions the compartment is substantially and effectively sealed agains-t the passage of atmosphere in-to or out of said compartment.

The present invention is concerned with means for effecting automatic opening and closing of the supplemental door I9 when the main door I1 is moved into open or closed positions. Accordingly, the inside face of the supplemental door I9 is provided with a bracket 25 having a link 26 pivotally secured thereto at one end as at 21. The other end of the link 2B is pivotally vconnected as at 28, to one end of a lever429. The lever is pivotally mounted at its other end upon a pin or trunnion 3| secured to and extending laterally into the opening I3 from a wall plate 32 rmly secured by screws 33 to the inside face of thesupplemental opening I3. When the supplemental door I9 is in closed position the link 26 and lever 29 assume the positions shown in full lines in Figure 1, and when said supplemental door is in its open position, said link and lever rest substantially in the positions illustrated in broken lines in sa id ligure.

Movement of the link 2S and lever 29 from one of these positions of rest into the other is eected through cooperative association therewith of means carried on the main door I1, which is rendered effective during initial opening and final closing movement only of said main door.

As shown, the main door I'I has a standard 34 mounted upon its upper edge which extends upwardly therefrom into the supplemental door opening I3. The standard 34 includes a base 35 having slotted openings 36 therein to receive mounting screws 3'! for securing said standard v in any position of adjustment on said door. The

standard 34 preferably consists of a substantially web-like body having laterally extending flanges 38 on each side thereof to provide relatively wide edges.l The edge of the standard 34 facing the inside of the main door l'I is formed with a cam slot 39 opening at its lower end on said face and substantially vertically upwardly from said opening. An overhanging portion 49 on the upper end of the body denes the front wall 4I of the slot 39 and this wall and the back wall 42 of said slot are formed with continuations of the laterally exten-ding flanges 39 on the standard so as to thereby present relatively wide faces.

The corn slot 39 is adapted to cooperate with means of the lever 29. when the main door I1is being moved into open or fully closed positions, so as to actuate the lever 29 for moving it and its associated link 26 into one or the other of the positions illustrated. For this purpose, the lever 29 carries a stud 43 substantially midway between its ends, which stud extends laterally from one facethereof into the path taken by the standard 34 when said standard is moved into and outof the supplemental opening I3. When the main 4 door I'I and supplemental door I9 are in the open position illustrated in broken lines of Figure l, the open mouth of the slot 39 is in substantial alignment with the stud 43. As the main door Il approaches its fully closed position, the lower portion 44 of the back wall 42 of the slot 39 engages the stud 43 whereupon said stud is carried upwardly into the slot 39 upon continued closing movement of the main door il. Such upward movement of the stud 43 asit rides along the back wall 42 of said slot results in movement of the link 29 about its trunnion 3| so as to break the toggle relationship between the lever 29 and link 26 whereupon the supplemental door I9 begins its descent toward a closed position. When the main door I'I reaches its fully closed position the lever 29 will have been carried into the full line position shown in Figure 1 and the back wall of the slotv 39 will remain in engagement with the stud 43 to hold the supplemental door in its closed position shown.

When the main door I1 is moved into open position, the front wall 4I of slot 39 bears against the stud 43 so as to cam said stud upwardly and in a direction to swing the lever 29 about its trunnion 3i into the open position illustrated, whereupon the stud 43 becomes disengaged from slot 39 so that the main door II is free to be swung into its fully opened position, A stop 45, carried by the wall plate 32, is provided to limit forward rocking motion of lever 29 beyond the fully open position illustrated.

If desired, the slotted end of the standard 34 may be formed substantially solid such as is illustrated at 46 in Figure 4, which construction is best adapted 'for heavy duty installations. In other respects the standard illustrated in this figure is identical to the standard described hereinabove and like numerals identify corresponding parts.

It should be understood that the supplemental door operating mechanism disclosed herein may embody various modications in detail construction and may be installed on either side of the supplemental opening without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: f y

1. A closure system for storage compartments having a main door opening and a supplemental opening above the main door opening, a vertically swinging door for the supplemental opening, an operating mechanism for the supplemental door, comprising a link having one end thereof pivotally connected to the supplemental door, a lever having one end thereof pivotally connected to the door frame and having its opposite end pivotally connected to the opposite end of said link, a standard carried by the main door and extending into the supplemental opening and having an inverted substantially U-shaped upper portion defining a vertically disposed slot the mouth of which opens inwardly away from the supplemental door when closed. and a member on said lever adapted to extend into the slot for engageu ment with the walls thereof to effect opening and closing of the supplemental door upon opening and closing of the main door.

2. Operating means for moving a supplemental door into open and closed position upon opening and closing of a main door in a frame comprising, incombination, a lever fulcrumedat one end to said frame, a link pivoted at an end to the other end of said leverand having a pivoted connection at its other end to said supplemental door, said 5 lever and said link constituting'a toggle linkage moveable pasta dead center position to hold the supplemental door in an open position, a lug extending laterally from one face of said lever between its ends, a standard carried on said main door havingy an upwardly extending body portion formed with a vertical cam surface on an edge facing the inside of said compartment, and an arm on said body portion overhanging said cam surface and spaced forwardly therefrom to dene with said surface a. cam slot, said arm terminating short of an end of the cam surface to define a mouth to admit the lug into the cam slot while 6 the main door is being moved into fully position whereby the lever is moved about its fulcrum to close the supplemental door. f GEORGE W SLOPA.V

REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofV record lin the leof this patent: n UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,208,309 Leonard July 16, 1940 closed Fritz Aug. 27, 1935 

